Ship hit in seas off Mullaithivu

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 June 2000, 05:20 GMT]
A Sri Lankan cargo ship to Jaffna was damaged when it was hit by an explosive laden suicide boat of the Liberation Tigers in the high seas off the Mullaithivu coast in the early hours of the morning around 2 a.m. Monday. No one aboard was killed in the attack Sri Lanka Navy sources said. The Tigers appear to have mistaken the ship for one carrying weapons to the Sri Lanka army in Jaffna the sources added.

The ship, Mercs Uhana, is owned by a private shipping company and was hired by Sri Lanka's Commissioner General of Essential Services to carry private merchandise to Jaffna.

The Mercs Uhana is being towed for repairs by another private vessel Mercs Kirinda said Naval sources.